Iraq: Kurdish Forces Retake Parts Of Largest Dam

IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — Kurdish forces took over parts of Iraq's largest dam on Sunday less than two weeks after it was captured by the Islamic State extremist group, Kurdish security officials said, as U.S. and Iraqi planes aided their advance by bombing militant targets near the facility. The U.S. began targeting Islamic State fighters with airstrikes a little over a week ago, allowing Kurdish forces to fend off an advance on their regional capital Irbil and to help tens of thousands of members of religious minorities escape the extremists' onslaught.

Recapturing the dam would be a significant victory against the Islamic State group, which has seized vast swaths of northern and western Iraq and northeastern Syria. The dam on the Tigris supplies electricity and water for irrigation to a large part of the country. The Kurdish forces, known as peshmerga, launched the operation early Sunday to retake the Mosul Dam, Gen. Tawfik Desty, a Kurdish commander, told The Associated Press. He said his forces now control the eastern part of the dam and that fighting is still underway.

This is good news. I hope they keep up their offensive against ISIL.

It may be that the IS is overrated as a military force. I hope so.

Its been written that they took Mosul because the Iraqi commanders were bribed to abandon their post and left confused troops who had no choice but run

Their like vultures and bullies always take advantage of the weak and infirm

It’s like these human devils have come out of a superhero comic they are so diabolically demented.

a reply to: Willtell
Nah they from over populated western cities influenced by their own "gangster culture" more than anything from actual ME culture.... Theyre doing this now out there in the ME because they know they can't get away with it here in the UK & elsewhere. Theyve always been a sick bloodthirsty lot of murderers & rapists.. Its just not talked about as much because its hard to prove that they're working together as part of some "jihad" against western society... Now they've really shot themselves in the foot, because all their associates friends and family are going to be under hot suspicion from UK authorites.... Prime minster Cameron admitted today this is something he's going to have to fight against for the rest of his political career. As the youngest prime minister since 1812 its quite a significant thing to admit. There are supposedly around 500 British militants fighting in th ISIS. I don't know if they're releasing names yet but the should.

Good for them!
Good for the whole country too!
These ISIL goons need stopping and the Peshmerga with air support are a more professional bunch of fighters than the Iraqi army....
They have been fighting for their homeland since ww1.....

Obama is not a leader at all. He should be forming an international coalition to take ISIL out ASAP.

A REAL LEADER WOULD HAVE DONE THAT MONTHS AGO.

Go Kurds!

was very happy to read that..

with minimal support Kurds can manage against a much better outfitted force... imagine if they had plenty of ammo and top of the line weapons.

The Kurds are making way for the rest of Iraq, awesome WTG!!!!

Any thing that hurts IS good, this groups needs to be destroyed!!

a reply to: Stormdancer777

Plus SAS, RAF and SBS too no doubt. (You don't seriously think that all the recent COBRA meetings have been about Ebola do you?)

The Brits and other SF units have been on the ground and preventing ISL from breaching the damn for weeks now.

QAPLA! Go Kurds,good hunting. We are also sending some M1s to Saudi (And no doubt screwing Germany out of Leopard sales) so Even though our president may be a screw up our military is still in play.

All Obama has got to do is first go to the UN and have them pass a resolution for the international community to unite and take out ISL IMMEDIATELY

Then have a diplomatic coalition with the Kurds, Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Turkey, NATO, and even IRAN, Saudi Arabia (even though those scum bags are partly responsible for ISIL) This force plus US air power is the best hope to totally eradicate ISIL, imo.

He did this with a sovereign state, Libya; he can’t do it with this renegade group attacking sovereign countries.

I don’t think the Kurds can do this alone…